


Handle With Care

by jugandbettsdetectiveagency



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Non-Asexual Jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 05:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10712841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jugandbettsdetectiveagency/pseuds/jugandbettsdetectiveagency
Summary: They'd always treated each other so carefully, until the one time they didn't.





	Handle With Care

They’d been careful about everything. 

He’d been careful about the way he cupped her face when he first kissed her, brushing his thumbs over her petal-soft cheeks, contrasting deliciously with the way he poured all the longing, all his time spent dreaming, for this moment against her lips. 

He’d been careful about the way he reached for her hand when he walked her home, that rainy night after looking for Polly in the woods. He’d jerked his hand back twice before leaving his hanging between them, heart rising into his throat when it was Betty that laced her fingers through his without a word, not even interrupting their conversation like it was the most natural thing in the world. And then she’d kissed him and he swore he could have died happy, right then. The warmth of her hands on his face made him feel safer than he’d felt in a long time now, like he was being protected rather than left to endure the cold world all by himself. His heart was glass, cracked and fragile, and he felt as if he’d thrown it at her, sure that she’d catch it, cradle it. 

He’d been careful when Veronica called him Betty’s boyfriend for the first time. His heart stopped and then resumed in double time as the words hung there in the air - Betty’s boyfriend. They hadn’t defined what they were yet and as much as Jughead was ok with that, ok to wait for as long as they both needed, he couldn’t help but love the tingling that spread into the tips of his fingers at the title. He turned to her with a carefully blank face, blinded by the smile she’d offered him in return. This was it for him.

He’d been careful when he paced up and down in front of her, standing at the end of her bed while she sat on the duvet, chest heaving, shirt askew and hair a mess. He couldn’t get enough of her. Every kiss, every touch, was something new that he didn’t know he’d been missing until now. But now he had it he couldn’t imagine a life without it. But here he was, a knot tight in his stomach and appearance as equally dishevelled as he tried to find the words to talk about how he felt. He tried to explain his feelings in a way that didn’t make it seem like it was anything to do with Betty - it wasn’t her, he desired her more than he knew what to do with. That was kind of the problem, because he’d never had that before. He told her about his lack of interest in any other girl before her, how she’d knocked the air right out of him and now everything he thought he knew about himself was being called into question. He knew, though, that he wanted her. He just wasn’t sure in what way, how much. He wasn’t sure he was ready to do that just yet. He couldn’t meet her eyes as he babbled, scared to see any pain in them that he might have put there. He stumbled when she was suddenly in front of him, stopping him in his tracks and resting her hands on his where they were held in front of his body as he played nervously with his fingers. 

“It’s ok, Jughead. We’ll take it slow. I… I love you,” she’d whispered, so quietly he wasn’t sure he’d really heard the words. 

“Say it again,” he choked out, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. 

“I love you, Jughead,” she’d said more forcefully. 

“I love you, Betty,” he’d replied without hesitation. 

He wasn’t careful when he told her they shouldn’t be together anymore. 

He’d seen her, laughing and joking with Archie at lunch, throwing her head back in carefree abandon at something his redheaded best friend had said. She looked radiant, weightless. Was she like that with him? He didn’t know. It was possible he was weighing her down, and he didn’t need another guilt on his conscience. She was holding his heart still and if she realised, if she dropped it, he didn’t think he’d come back from that. But he couldn’t give her what she needed, he was broken.

“Why are you doing this, Juggie?” she’d pleaded, a river flowing down her cheeks. He couldn’t breathe, everything he’d feared doing was coming true as he watched her wrap her arms around herself and shrink before him. 

“It’s just for the best,” he’d replied, turning away and not looking back, even when her echoing sobs reached his ears. 

It took him a while to realise. She hadn’t dropped his heart. He’d ripped it from her grasp and thrown it, shattering it into a million shards - and he’d taken hers with it. He saw in the way her skin was drained of the usual rosy glow. How she had dark circles under her eyes, stray hair flying out of her ponytail. In trying to save them both he’d done the unthinkable. 

“Please, Betty, please I’m so sorry.” He was on his knees on her bedroom floor, hands grasping at her thighs where she sat in front of him on the bed, trying not to meet the storm in his blue eyes. “I-I didn’t want to ruin you, like I ruin everything else. I thought I could save you, that you could get more from being with someone like Archie, I-”

“And who gave you the right to decide what I should have, Jughead? What I want. That’s something that’s all for me, that no one else can ever do.” She was fire in that moment, her eyes blazing behind unshed tears. 

“I’ll do anything - anything - Betts. To show you how much I need you, how much you mean to me. If it takes forever, I’ll do it. Please, please, please…” He couldn’t stop the hope from bubbling up at the feeling of her fingers underneath his chin, bringing up his crestfallen face. 

“Shh, Jug, shh,” she cooed, stroking a hand through his hair to try and calm him. He hadn’t even realised until that moment that he’d been hyperventilating. “I’ve got you, Jug, it’s ok. I’m here,” she soothed, rocking him gently backwards and forwards. 

It was her turn to be careful as she lifted him gently from the floor, lifting the covers and tucking him in beside her, pulling him to her chest and whispering comforting nothings to him until his breathing evened out and she was sure he was asleep. She’d make him see that she needed him as much as he needed her, he could count on it. 

They were careful their first time. The bridge had been mended between them long ago but the walls had come crumbling down. He memorised every inch of her body beneath his, the way she moved under his touch, the way her lips dropped open in pleasure - because of him. She held him in return, reassuring and steady the whole time. He didn’t know love felt like this.

She didn’t say anything as she wiped away the stray tears from his cheeks afterwards, where he couldn’t contain the exploding emotions inside any longer. She kissed each closed eyelid as their breathing slowed, settling into a unique harmony that could never be replicated. 

Yes, he was broken and so was she. But together they made a whole.


End file.
